To ensure equitable access to digital public infrastructure, it’s crucial to address the digital divide. This involves extending connectivity infrastructure globally, reimagining digital systems for offline accessibility, and enhancing digital literacy. Innovations like offline Aadhaar enrolment and QR-code-based services, along with user-friendly design, are key to making DPI inclusive and accessible to all, regardless of their technological proficiency.
Given the similarities between the digital infrastructure that both Brazil and India have built it makes sense that as the new President of the G20, Brazil can build on all the work that India did during its Presidency to raise global attention to the concept of digital public infrastructure.
Despite India’s success in pushing the DPI agenda during its Presidency of the G20 there have been some criticisms about the actual impact of its financial inclusion efforts. While there is no doubt that we are prone to embellishment, India’s achievements in the area are substantial. Criticisms about coercion are also unfounded given some level of market orchestration is necessary — especially in low and middle-income countries that are looking for accelerated development.
In an increasingly polarised world, the 2023 New Delhi Declaration at the Leaders Summit of the G20 was a diplomatic triumph. But as you read through the pages of the text it is striking how much it covers in terms of new technologies and their governance.
Rather than simply building DPI building blocks, countries that are looking to follow India’s DPI Approach should look to develop DPI solutions that leverage individual elements of the DPI stack in an interoperable manner.
